Difficult Times for the Command Post

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- It's a local landmark filled with history, but as you told us on Facebook, it's looking for support from the community.

A smile and a hug, they're not things you usually get when you sit down for a meal, but at Rockford’s Command Post restaurant, it's the norm.

"Their spirit and how they are with the customers you can see it when you walk in the door, you feel welcome you feel at ease and comfortable being here,” said customer Delgracia York.

That's what's kept the Yorks coming in for the last decade, that and the history. Yolanda Weisensel opened the restaurant with her husband 16 years ago, in one of the former Camp Grant facilities, built during World War I and rebuilt during World War II.

One of the more interesting things here is a Thanksgiving napkin from Camp Grant's first Thanksgiving in 1917. It actually belonged to a veteran whose grandson sent in the picture after hearing about this museum on the internet."

Weisensel is now relying more heavily on donations, so this local landmark isn't lost.

"The economy has always done a lot of drastic change in our business, people don't know we're here,” Weisensel said.

Weisensel doesn't keep a profit. All the extra money goes back into the museum.

"It's just gotten to the point where I can't do it anymore so hopefully we can keep it open because it'd break my heart if I had to close it, said Weisensel.

Weisensel says she would like to see more veterans come in and anyone is welcome to stop by and take a tour. She says if you have a big group just call a head. She is now asking for a small donation of $3-$5.

The Command Post is located on Samuelson Road, between 11th Street and Falcon Road, near the airport. They're open from 7 a-m to 2 p-m Tuesday thru Saturday. Our thanks to John D. and Casey J. for suggesting the idea on the Pulse.

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